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Visit a section of river between Lower Cedar Point and Stratford Hall...
Colonial Beach, Va.
George Washington Birthplace National Monument
Westmoreland State Park
Stratford Hall, Va.
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Throughout the area, salinity continues to rise and blue crabs and oysters become more plentiful. On the Maryland side, Charles County continues its rapid growth as a suburban extension of the greater Washington area. Historic sites are plentiful along this section of the river, particularly on the Virginia side.
The area also includes the birthplace of George Washington, now marked by the George Washington Birthplace National Monument that includes a building with exhibits and a living colonial farm. Further down the river, Stratford Hall, the ancestral home of the Lee Family of Virginia, provides insight into the early life of Confederate general Robert E. Lee and other well known members of the family including two signers of the Declaration of Independence.
The town of Colonial Beach, Va., includes the second largest beach front in the state of Virginia, and the summer population grows to nearly 15,000. Prior to 1958 Charles County, MD allowed slot machines and crafty entrepreneurs on the Virginia side of the rivier built piers into the Maryland waters and claimed their establishment was in Charles County so that they could allow gambling.
Westmoreland State Park offers canoeing areas, hiking trails and unusual geological formations including Horsehead Cliffs. These cliffs rise 150 feet above the Potomac shoreline. They were formed from sediments that fell to the sea floor. As a result, continuing erosion regularly leads to the discovery of shark teeth, whale bones and even teeth and pieces of skeleton from sea crocodiles.
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